A former employee at the Newmarket Ontario SPCA is questioning the number of animals that are being put down at the facility.
Speaking to CTV Toronto, former animal welfare attendant Alex Miller, who was fired this week, said she couldn’t understand why so many animals that seemed to be in decent health were being euthanized.
“There have been times where rooms with 15 to 20 cats are all euthanized at one time,” Miller said. “Some weeks, there’s up to 40 animals being euthanized. Again, it varies, so we can’t put an exact number on it, but more animals than need be are being euthanized and not for reasons that are stated.”
Miller’s comments come a day after PC MPP Frank Klees raised the issue at Queen’s Park during question period, saying that three former employees told him that animals were being needlessly killed after an outbreak of ringworm.
The OSPCA issued a statement Thursday, saying that there were no outbreaks of any kind occurring in any of its facilities.
The statement acknowledged that many animals are in poor condition, or suffering from neglect, when they arrive at the OSPCA.
A small group of protesters also gathered outside the Newmarket OSPCA Friday, holding signs that read, “OSPCA stop the killing again!” and “OSPCA lies, lies, lies.”
Two years ago, the Newmarket OSPCA came under similar criticism for killing animals it said had ringworm, but which were actually not infected.
With files from CTV Toronto's Austin Delaney
